Eric Elfner

I have been an EV owner now for about 6 months. I purchased a used Chevy Bolt 2017 in August of 2020. You can read more about my purchase decision on my SmartGigDriver site. At about $22k it was twice as expensive as any car I had ever purchased (and I’m pushing retirement). I have … Read more

I recently watched the excellent YouTube video “The Electric Charging Problem” by Wendover Productions (~3M subscribers, Sam Denby). In this video, he argues that the limiting factor for the adoption of EVs in the US is NOT car price, but the available range. And, he expands this to analyzing that more charging stations would pretty … Read more

Jason Fenske, of Engineering Explained YouTube channel (and if you aren’t following him and watch any YouTube at all, what is wrong with you), posted Summer vs. Winter driving comparison data for his Tesla 2018 Model 3 Performance for a 2000 mile cross country drive. I love this type of real-world data and want to … Read more

Over Thanksgiving this year, I was asked by Transportation Evolved (excellent YouTube channel): What are you most thankful for this year in the world of cleaner, greener, safer and smarter transportation? To which I responded with 3 things: My ’17Bolt, the electric car I have been wanting and waiting to purchase for over 40 years. … Read more

Update: July 13, 2021 More time has passed. GM has issued a “permanent” fix for Chevy Bolt fires, and another one has burned with that fix applied! The situation is not good. For a recent update, see this excellent article at electrek.co. Update: November 13, 2020 GM is now investigating 5 Bolt EV fires (as … Read more

Bottom Line My overnight 760-mile road trip confirms that neither my Chevy Bolt nor the CCS charging network is well suited for this journey. Very sad for me to report this, but it is what it is. On the flip side, I am super excited that this trip is even possible and that I own … Read more